John Fletcher Lacey (May 30, 1841 – September 29, 1913) was an
eight-term Republican
United StatesUnited States congressman from Iowa's 6th
congressional district. He was also the author of the Lacey Act of
1900, which made it a crime to ship illegal game across state lines,
and the Lacey Act of 1907, which further regulated the handling of
tribal funds. As the first federal conservation law, the Lacey Act of
1900 remains one of the foundations of conservation law
enforcement.[1]

Contents

1 Background and Civil War service
2 Congressional service
3 The Lacey Act of 1894
4 The Lacey Act of 1900
5 The Lacey Act of 1907
6 The Antiquities Act
7 References
8 External links

Background and Civil War service[edit]
Lacey was born in New Martinsville,
VirginiaVirginia (now West Virginia). He
moved to
IowaIowa in 1855 with his parents, who settled in Oskaloosa. He
attended the common schools and pursued classical studies. He also
engaged in agricultural pursuits, and learned the trades of
bricklaying and plastering.
In the Spring of 1861, when Lacey was twenty years old, the American
Civil War began. Lacey joined an infantry in the
Union ArmyUnion Army in May
1861. He initially enlisted in Company H, 3rd
IowaIowa Volunteer Infantry
Regiment. During his time with the Third
IowaIowa Infantry, he was
captured at the Battle of Blue Mills. However, he was soon released on
parole. He afterward served as sergeant major in Company D, 33rd Iowa
Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant and
reassigned to Company C of that regiment, then promoted to assistant
adjutant general on the staff of General Frederick Steele. He remained
in this position until the end of the war.
As the war concluded, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1865,
and began to practice law in Oskaloosa. Five years later, he became a
member of the
IowaIowa House of Representatives. He was elected to the
IowaIowa House of Representatives for a term beginning in 1870. He was
later elected to the Oskaloosa City Council in 1880, serving until
1883. He served one term as city solicitor.
On April 12, 1902, Lacey accepted membership into the Boone and
Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation organization founded by
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt in 1887.[2]
Congressional service[edit]

Bernice Lacey, daughter of John F. Lacey, in Washington, D.C. with her
father

In 1888, he was nominated by the Republican Party to challenge
incumbent
Greenback PartyGreenback Party Congressman James Weaver, who was seeking
re-election to his fourth term as representative of Iowa's 6th
congressional district. Lacey unseated Weaver. Lacey served one term
(as a member of the Fifty-first
United StatesUnited States Congress), but was
defeated in the 1890 Democratic landslide by Democrat Frederick Edward
White. Two years later, however, Lacey reclaimed his seat from White,
and served seven consecutive terms, as a member of the Fifty-third
through the Fifty-ninth Congresses. He served twelve years as the
chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, in the Fifty-fourth through
Fifty-ninth Congresses. However, in 1906, when running for a ninth
term, Lacey was unseated by Democrat Daniel W. Hamilton.
After leaving Congress, Lacey practiced law until his death in
Oskaloosa on September 29, 1913.
The Lacey Act of 1894[edit]
Congressman Lacey was an enthusiastic defender of Yellowstone National
Park and in 1894, in response to the inability of park administrators
to punish poachers of the park's wildlife, Lacey sponsored legislation
to give the Department of Interior authority arrest and prosecute law
violators in the park. Although only known as the Lacey Act in the
context of Yellowstone National Park, in May 1894 congress passed An
Act To protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone National Park, and
to punish crimes in said park, and for other purposes. which became
the cornerstone of future law enforcement policies in the park.[3]
The Lacey Act of 1900[edit]
Today, Lacey is most prominently known as the namesake of the Lacey
Act of 1900. The Act, which is codified in as amended at 16 U.S.C.
§§ 3371-3378, protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil
and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations.[4] Most
notably, the Act prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that
have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold. Congressman
Lacey introduced the bill in the spring of 1900. It was signed into
law on May 25, 1900 by President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley after passing both
houses of Congress.[4]
The Lacey Act of 1907[edit]
Another major legislative initiative—also known as "The Lacey Act,"
but approved in the lame duck session after his 1906 defeat and signed
into law in his final week in Congress—made provision for the
allotment of tribal funds to certain classes of Indians. These
provisions were proposed after the passage of the
Burke ActBurke Act and the
Dawes Act, both of which provided for the allotment of reservation
lands to individual Indians, but not to communally owned trust funds.
After much debate and several opposing arguments, President Theodore
Roosevelt signed the bill into law on March 2, 1907.[5]
The Antiquities Act[edit]
Lacey is also significant in the history of the conservation movement
for his role in writing (with the help of anthropologist Edgar Lee
Hewett) and enacting the Antiquities Act. The Act has been pivotal to
the preservation of major archaeological sites in the Southwestern
United States.
References[edit]

Prucha, Francis Paul. 'Documents of
United StatesUnited States Indian Policy: Third
Edition'. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln, Nebraska. 2000. Pg.
208
John Fletcher LACEY — Infoplease.com at www.infoplease.com
The Lacey Act: America's Premier Weapon at www.animallaw.info
FAQs for Indian Tribal Governments regarding Miscellaneous Issues at
www.irs.gov

Works by or about
John F. LaceyJohn F. Lacey at Internet Archive
Richard West Sellars, "A Very Large Array: Early Federal Historic
Preservation--The Antiquities Act, Mesa Verde, and the National Park
Service Act"(background information on John F. Lacey, and legislative
history) published by the University of New Mexico School of Law,
2007.